LOOK SingTel's Ramsay challenge goes viral

Singapore - Since acquiring food review site HungryGoWhere.com last year, SingTel has launched a hawker food challenge to push the site.A simple contest, the website asks locals to rate their favourite hawker. 12 hawkers which have had higher food ratings and recommendations on HungryGoWhere.com have been listed for the contest, asking locals to vote.The coup for SingTel is that it has got Gordon Ramsay on board, having the notorious chef video a personal response to the challenge.In the video, Ramsay says: "The people of Singapore want to put their favourite hawker food to a Michelin star test. Now many of them think that hawker food is deserving of more recognition. Frankly, I'm not an expert on Singapore food; I'm not sure if it's as good as Singaporeans actually say it is! Trust me, I've got to see this for myself, and see what they have to offer. One thing I'm certain of is that people will like my version better! I truly accept your challenge. Game on!"Watch the video here:Obviously SingTel has hit the spot with the video, especially with locals' pride in the nation's cuisine.The video has since gone viral, making its rounds on Facebook, Twitter and local social media gag site SGAG, as far as Marketing has seen.Photos from SGAG's Facebook page.Launched only on Sunday, 23 June, the video has already hit 67,083 views at the time of this article.While having suffered criticism on some of its services, it seems SingTel is continuing to pull off several fairly bold social media moves. Earlier it placed local comedians on its Twitter feed. It was also the first brand to partner Twitter for the latter's Promoted Products Suite.The largest telco in the nation, social media marketing for SingTel has traditionally been a tough job, with the company having to fend off large volumes of criticism as users face connectivity issues island-wide.To be fair, rivals StarHub and M1 also see similar complaints, but SingTel's size makes its social media challenge proportionately bigger.Is SingTel finally on the road to turning its social reputation around?